


A Small Victory

by commandershakarian



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, The Calling, The Deep Roads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 16:51:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6618583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commandershakarian/pseuds/commandershakarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the threat of a Blight on the horizon, Narcisse Andras and her warden friends search the Deep Roads for darkspawn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Small Victory

Narcisse Andras thought about the sky at least three times a day. The sight of white clouds drifting across the blue expanse. The sound of birds chirping. The cool breeze brushing across her skin. Instead, she was stuck in claustrophobic tunnels of the Deep Roads, the scent of decaying animals and sulfur nearly choking her. She and her group, a bunch of her fellow Grey Wardens, had been searching the dwarven tunnels for signs of darkspawn. King Endrin had mentioned sightings of the creatures and if a Blight was truly approaching, they needed to be prepared.

Duncan was leading. Ferelden was his home, he was the Commander of the wardens here. Narcisse wasn’t the type to easily take commands from someone who wasn’t her own Commander, but Duncan was an honorable man. It made it significantly better. If someone like Riordan was leading her through darkspawn infested tunnels, she might question the First Warden’s sanity-

A screech broke the silence. A Shriek appeared out of thin air, the creature dropping its cloak before attacking the warden closest. Duncan lifted his daggers as it swiped at him, the claws barely missing his face. The noise caught Narcisse’s attention and lifting her bow quickly, let an arrow lose, embedding it in the darkspawn’s head.

As it dropped to the ground, screams filled the air as more Shrieks revealed themselves. She dropped two more in succession before a voice called out over the terrifying sounds coming from the darkspawn.

“Don’t tell me that’s the best you can do!”

Face scrunched up in frustration, Narcisse Andras turned her ice blue eyes towards the speaker. At the sudden movement, her flaxen hair fell into her face, obscuring her vision. With a grunt, she swiped it away before glaring at the man standing across from her. “Go hump a nug, Riordan.” Her Orlesian accent rang out clearly despite the battle.

The man tossed his head back and laughed, the sound echoing off of the stone surrounding them as he clashed with his own pair of darkspawn. “The Commander would be _so_ proud.”

_Glad he finds himself so funny_ , Narcisse thought to herself as she lifted her longbow again, aiming at the darkspawn that was trying to sneak up on the mage in the squad. _Smug bastard is going to eat his words_.

The next arrow she released hit her target dead center and with a girlish grin, she spun around to face him. Riordan’s blue eyes met hers, a smirk on his face. “I believe Alisse will be happy to leave the wardens in my hands when the time comes.”

“That’s my girl.” A gruff voice spoke from behind her. She glanced up as her husband leaned closer to her before stealing a quick kiss. Gordon Blackwall wasn’t a small man by any means, but he was always gentle. When he pulled away, Narcisse had to admit she wanted him to kiss her again. The feel of his beard rough against her cheek thrilled her and she missed it when his lips weren’t pressed against hers.

"Do you have to do that _now_?” Riordan scoffed, his daggers sliding easily into the flesh of a hurlock.

Narcisse glanced over her shoulder at Riordan, smirking at him triumphantly before firing off another arrow. “Jealous?”

The man shook his head and snorted. “Of him, princess? You flatter yourself.”

Narcisse lifted her bow again and fired off a few more shots, ending the lives of many of the darkspawn that had filled the tunnels. When the Deep Roads finally fell silent, Narcisse wiped away the sweat that dampened her brow, her blonde hair sticking to her skin as she did so. Why did it have to be so bloody hot?

Portia Caron, the group’s only mage, took a few steps forward to stand beside Narcisse. “That was quite the show, Cissy.”

Narcisse grinned despite the heat and stench of the Deep Roads overwhelming her. “There’s more where that came from. All you have to do is give me the time of day.”

Portia rolled her eyes playfully, used to Narcisse’s flirtatious nature. “You should make good on these promises, _chéri_. A good Commander would do so always.”

“Why don’t you ladies come join us and not tease this old man?” Riordan called out, making a show of setting up camp.

Portia laughed as she went to check on Duncan, who was standing off to the side and peering into the dark tunnels they had yet to explore. With a sigh, Narcisse turned away from her friends, walking to one of her kills and retrieving arrows. The Deep Roads didn’t have an endless supply and she would have to mend and reuse what she could. As she bent down, a blinding pain in her head made her stumble, biting her lip to keep from crying out.

The taint was steadily increasing in her blood. Narcisse could feel it. She knew that her Calling would be soon, much sooner than she had expected. Her friends, her fellow wardens, hadn’t a clue. She wasn’t sure that she was ready, but there was an issue if she decided not to walk. She was getting weaker as the days went by. If she succumbed to the darkspawn taint within her blood, there was no turning back. Her friends would have to kill her. She couldn’t put any of them through that. She _wouldn’t_.

Narcisse had been concentrating so intently on her thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed that her hands had started to shake. It was only when a pair of strong hands pulled the bow from her grip did she realize that tremors had overtaken her body. Gordon tried to pull her into his arms, but she backed away from him, shaking her head and lifting her hands defensively.

“Don’t.” She begged, turning her gaze to the ground in front of her, trying to quell the shivers that wracked her body. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”

She could feel him step closer, his hands reaching out to take hold of her shoulders. Glancing up through her shaggy bangs, she met the stern eyes of her husband. His face was solemn as he gazed at her.

“Gordon- _please_ … don’t tell anyone.” She practically begged him, her blue eyes studying his face, trying to find a way to explain this. “I do not want to fight you over this.”

A wry grin tugged at his lips, but he didn’t smile. “Good.” She expected him to let her past. What she didn’t expect was for the large man to reach down and grab her around the waist before tossing her over his shoulder.

Narcisse squealed as he moved towards the camp that was now finished. She balled her hands into fists and began to pound them against his back but he didn’t even acknowledge her efforts. “Blasted bear of a man! Let me down!”

He chuckled, but said nothing. He continued his journey to where the food and their friends waited. Once they were safely in camp, he placed her back onto her feet. She turned and faced him, her hands on her hips. She was about to open her mouth when Gordon lifted a hand to stop her.

Waving towards the bedroll that Riordan had laid out, her husband smiled. “Sit down, _ma dame_ , and enjoy your victory with an ale.”

Riordan held up a tankard full of dwarven ale, a look of innocence on his face. “I swear I didn’t spit in it.”

With a shaky laugh, Narcisse took the drink and settled in, Gordon sitting beside her, his arm resting on her shoulders. He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek before whispering in her ear that he loved her. As much as she hated what was going to happen to her, to all of them eventually, she still lifted the drink and toasted the fight, knowing that this wasn’t going to be forever.


End file.
